Monitoring company pumps out profits

LiDCO, the Hoxton-based cardiovascular monitoring company, has reported increased revenues of £2.49m, up 23 per cent from a year earlier.

The group posted a 41 per cent rise in recurring revenue to £1.63m and said it had achieved a 12 per cent increase in gross profit to £1.51m with a gross margin of 61 per cent, compared with 68 per cent a year earlier.

Sales were up 23 per cent to £2.49m against a background of reduced capital spend by hospitals. However, the group’s LiDCOplus monitor device posted a slower rate of growth, partly due to the resources spent in launching the LiDCOrapid monitor.

The domestic UK market represented a 33 per cent share of total sales revenue. Sales in the US saw the largest increase, with overall revenues up by 233 per cent to £1.16m and an increase of 157 per cent in recurring disposables income.

In July the group signed an exclusive distribution agreement for the LiDCOrapid monitor with US-based medical group, Aspect.

Looking ahead, the company said that there were significant technical synergies between Aspect’s Bispectral Index (BIS) product, which ensures the correct depth of anesthesia is achieved, and the use of the LiDCOrapid monitor to optimise blood flow and oxygen delivery.

The companies have agreed to collaborate to develop a new monitoring device that will integrate both systems.

Terry O’Brien, chief executive of the group, said: ‘In the last six months LiDCO has entered into three significant partnerships giving us fuller access to the three largest markets in the world – the US, Japan and Germany. There is a growing demand worldwide for minimally invasive monitoring technology and the clinical community is showing an increasing recognition for the LiDCO brand.

‘The company is in a very strong position to take full advantage of this opportunity; we now have the right products and distribution partners to achieve significant growth. We continue to make progress on many fronts and LiDCO remains on track to deliver a maiden profit in the coming full year.’